


19 Years Later

by ladyroxanne21



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crazy Draco Logic, Established Relationship, Falling Apart, Infidelity, Lack of Communication, M/M, Mpreg, Open Relationships, Working too many hours
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-04
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-06-05 01:54:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15159842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyroxanne21/pseuds/ladyroxanne21
Summary: Due to a previous agreement and a lack of communication, Draco realizes that Harry's cheating on him. He then has to decide if he wants to forgive Harry or leave him. But Harry's not about to let Draco go without fighting to stay together.





	19 Years Later

**Author's Note:**

> I understand that tagging this as both open relationship AND infidelity can be confusing, but that's basically where the lack of communication comes into play.
> 
> Also, can you guess what my challenge for this fic is?

Draco had been suspicious for a while now. He'd tried to ignore his suspicions. He'd tried to prove that they weren't true, but now he had definitive proof that he was right.

Part of him was thrilled by this knowledge. He had always had a kink about sharing Harry with others. Not to mention watching him play around. The two of them had always had an open marriage with just one rule: always tell the other if they were playing around.

So... why was Harry keeping this a secret?

And this was the part that hurt like a knife to the chest. There was no need for Harry to go behind Draco's back like this. There was no reason to make excuses that bordered on lies. Draco would forgive Harry anything, so why was Harry keeping this from him?

Draco could only think of one reason – Harry had finally grown tired of him and decided that it was time to move on. This hurt far more than anything else. Turning away from the sight of Harry and Ginny shagging rather passionately up against the wall of her entryway – which Draco could see thanks to a handy little spying spell – he went home to wait for Harry and to think this over very carefully.

Once home, Draco made himself a cup of his favorite tea and sat at the kitchen table to think. This year marked the 19 th  year since the end of the Final Battle in which Voldemort had been defeated once and for all. He knew this for certain because not _only_ had it been reported on in all the papers, but their youngest two had just started Hogwarts, and it had been remarked upon a few times.

When their first two had been born – 14 years ago – Draco had generously let Harry name them both. After all, they'd been married less than a year and Draco was still afraid that Harry would wake up one day and realize that it had all been a mistake. So, James and Lily. They were more or less twins, each being carried by one of their fathers. Harry had carried James and Draco Lily.

Three years later when they'd carried the second two, Draco had settled into married life and parenthood enough to put his foot down and insist that the son he carried would be named Scorpius, and Harry used that as leverage to get Draco to agree to _Albus_ as a name. Of all things!

Despite being tired and overworked, life had been good. Harry'd been an Auror and Draco'd worked on rare potions in his spare time as he otherwise stayed home and raised their children. No matter what else was going on in their lives, they never failed to reconnect with each other at the end of each day, and as often as possible, they went out on dates to keep things fresh. They'd also made it a point to go play around with others as a couple two or three times a year because they both found it bloody hot when they watched the other with someone else.

That had stopped at some point, and Draco was having a hard time remembering exactly when. He thought it might have been around the time that James and Lily started Hogwarts. Harry accepted the Deputy Head Auror position, and... suddenly he was working more than ever. He never had _time_ to go on dates or out playing.

Even so, Draco wasn't too worried, because they still always connected with each other every night. But even that had stopped. It had been... _months_ since he and Harry last shagged.

Ever since Harry became Head Auror and practically lived in his office. At first, they'd do so on the weekends, but even that stopped as Harry always seemed to be too tired. Meanwhile, Draco had waited. He hadn't been particularly starved for sex after close to 15 years of marriage – of shagging nearly every night. Sure he had wanked a bit, but that was only to be expected.

Except he started to wonder how Harry was managing the lack of sex. He'd asked and Harry admitted to wanking in his office at times or in the loo. But... that didn't quite explain why Harry often came home smelling of a particular perfume. Three or four nights each month, Harry smelled like... Ginny, actually, and Draco couldn't help but be suspicious.

After simply telling himself he was wrong for a couple of months, he decided to lurk outside of the Weasley-Lovegood home so that he could find out the truth either way. As he suspected, Harry was shagging her on the sly.

Draco sighed in frustration and the urge to cry as he downed the last of his tea. It had gone cold by this point, but he didn't even notice beyond an uncontrollable grimace. As he set his cup back down, he heard Harry arrive home and mutter a non-magical curse as he never failed to hit his head on the mantle. He then shook the soot off his robes.

Draco got up and made his way to the parlor. Leaning against the door frame, he purposely made his voice sound casual and curious. “Work late again?”

Harry tilted his head side to side. “Yes and no. I did have to stay a bit late, but then I went to Ginny and Luna's.”

“Oh?” Draco asked with interest. If Harry confessed to everything right now, he'd forgive him and move on. After all, their _only_ rule was to tell each other when they played around.

“Yeah, they wanted me for dinner so that they could tell me all about their last Magizoology excursion,” Harry explained.

“Oh,” Draco murmured in disappointment. “Is that all?”

“Well, I thought about inviting you too, but I know how much you can't stand Luna's made up creatures, and also, you'd said you were going to be busy with a potion all day, so I wasn't sure if you'd be done in time.”

Draco sighed. “It's fine. I had dinner already. Do you need anything before bed? Want me to run you a bath? I could even scrub you clean.”

Harry gave Draco a smoldering grin. “Oh really? I'd love to take you up on that. Unfortunately, I'm exhausted, and I also have to go into work early tomorrow. This weekend?”

Draco pressed his lips together, held his breath for a moment, and then shrugged. “Sure. Actually, I made plans with Blaise tonight. It's been forever since we had time to go out and get pissed. He's recently divorced again and wants to go out and pull – and possibly find his future fifth wife – or husband. Will you be fine on your own tonight?”

Harry gave him a warm and rather relieved smile, before pulling him into his arms and kissing him. “No problem. You go have fun. I can't wait to hear all about it!”

Draco force a tiny smile, and then returned the kiss. “I'll try to ensure that the details are as salacious as possible. Maybe I'll take him to our favorite kinky sex club.”

“Sounds like fun!” Harry groaned in longing. “Now I wish I could go too, but I really am dead on my feet.”

“Alright,” Draco murmured in acceptance.

“Love you,” Harry said in between giving him a few more kisses.

“Do you?” Draco couldn't help but ask.

“Draco!” Harry roared incredulously. “Why would you ask me that?!”

Draco glared at him, not appreciating how Harry had turned an honest question around to make it sound like Draco was the crazy one. “Well, it's just been so long since we've been together. We grew apart at some point and didn't even notice.”

Harry sighed in frustration and rubbed a hand up and down Draco's back. “Alright, that's fair. Yes, I do love you. I always have and I always will. I've just been so busy lately.”

“Ever since you became Head Auror,” Draco stated, trying not to sound upset by this.

“Exactly,” Harry agreed with a short nod. “I honestly had no idea just how much I'd have to work once I was promoted. I stupidly thought that as the boss, I could delegate most of the work to others. Apparently, that's so wrong that it's laughable!”

Draco sighed in defeat. “Yes, well, don't let me keep you up any longer. I'll just be off then.”

But Harry wouldn't let go of him for a few moments. He cupped the back of Draco's neck and gave him a kiss that would have started them both on fire had Harry not been too tired to do anything. When done, Draco tried to pull free, but Harry _still_ wouldn't let him go.

“I mean it Draco,” Harry stated firmly. “I _do_ love you.”

Then he sat staring at Draco, not letting him go. It took a moment, but then Draco felt a bit stupid for not figuring it out right away. He gave Harry a real smile.

“I love you too, you bloody prick. Now let me go before you fall off your feet and injure us both.”

Looking relieved, Harry kissed him one last time before letting Draco go. Despite lying about having already made the plans, Draco _did_ go out with Blaise. They danced and flirted with each other and others. Blaise pulled after about an hour and left Draco on his own. Draco found an interesting stranger to dance with until the place was about to close, but when invited back to the stranger's flat, he declined.

“Sorry. I was going to. I planned to. But then I realized that I am too upset about something else entirely to even enjoy it,” he explained.

“Understandable,” the man murmured, giving Draco a sweet little kiss before taking off with a person he knew and occasionally had one offs with.

This left Draco walking around London until he felt more or less sober again. Then he Apparated home. Without realizing it, he arrived just as Harry was getting dressed to go to work. Draco looked at the clock.

“Fuck! You really _are_ going in early!”

This made Harry look at the clock too. “It's 4:30 in the morning! Draco, are you seriously just getting home?!”

“Why are you upset by this?” Draco asked in confusion.

“Because I thought you were going out to play around, NOT to spend the entire bloody night with someone!”

“Er...” Draco didn't quite know what to say. He didn't _truly_ understand the difference. So, he decided to just make something up. “Well, I _didn't_ spend the night with any one person. There were so many of them that it took until about twenty minutes ago to get through them all.”

Harry looked like he couldn't decide whether to be upset or impressed. “Yeah?”

Draco snorted a mirthless laugh. “Well, I _did_ promise to be as salacious as possible.”

“True. You did.” Deciding not to be upset since Draco hadn't broken any rules, Harry pulled him into his arms and gave him a kiss. “I look forward to hearing all about it. I'll _try_ to get home early tonight. And erm...”

Draco was definitely curious by the way Harry suddenly looked a bit sheepish. “What is it?”

Harry took a deep breath, bit his lip for a moment, and then confessed it all in a single breath. “I'm leading a raid on a group of rogue wizards suspected of torturing and murdering witches for fun, and if anything goes wrong and I end up in St. Mungo's, I just wanted you to know that –”

Draco cut him short by hugging him so tightly that he nearly strangled him. “Don't you _dare_ die in this raid, Harry Malfoy-Potter! If you do, I'll bind your soul as a ghost to this house so that I can berate you for your stupidity every day until I die!”

Harry _definitely_ seemed relieved by this. He held Draco tight and gave him a swift, hard kiss. “Try not to worry, many have tried, but no one seems to be able to kill me.”

“That's not exactly reassuring,” Draco grumbled.

“In any case, if all goes well, I _should_ be able to come home early today. Of course, I'll have interrogations all day tomorrow, but I'll worry about that later. Now I have to go – oh! I don't know why, but I just remembered that it's Circe's (sear-see) birthday next Friday, and Ginny and Luna were hoping that you'd help them plan her party.”

“Oh... I'll firecall them later on then,” Draco promised, not quite able to hold back a yawn. “After I get some sleep, that is.”

“Alright,” Harry agreed, giving his husband one last kiss before leaving for work.

When Ginny and Luna had decided to have kids, they'd naturally tried using the potion that converts some of a witch's blood to semen so that they could have kids that genetically belonged to both of them. For whatever reason – despite Draco personally brewing the potion to ensure that it was correct. It was difficult for them to conceive. It took them months of trying before they got frustrated enough to give up.

It was then that they asked Harry and Draco to consider donating some sperm to their cause. Neither man had a problem with this so long as they were named godfathers and considered uncles who were allowed to spend time with the kids whenever they had a chance. Luna had chosen Draco because she really wanted to know what a child with both of their features would look like. It had taken three months of carefully planned shags to get her pregnant, and Circe was the result. She was turning nine, and Draco was amazed at how quickly the time passed.

Meanwhile, Harry'd had to keep donating to the cause for six months before Ginny finally got pregnant. The resulting little boy – Aidan – was a fiery ginger like his mother with Harry's green eyes. He also had a rather mischievous nature and wicked sense of humor.

They'd asked Harry and Draco to help them have a couple more kids about five years ago now. Like the first time, it had taken Ginny months to conceive. Eight, to be precise. Luna had taken four, but her pregnancy had been so rough that they decided that she should probably never get pregnant again. In solidarity, Ginny had declared that they had enough kids and never needed to have more.

In a strange way, Draco liked having two (four) extra children with Luna. They were legally their mothers' children, and Draco was simply their godfather/uncle, but he liked having time to take them places now that all of his actual kids were in Hogwarts. The best part was that he got to watch them grow up but could give them back at the end of the day. It was sort of the best of both worlds.

Especially since he'd been surprised by just _how much_ he missed his kids now that they were all gone for most of the year. It was like a gnawing ache that he couldn't quite fill with anything. As he crawled into bed and got comfortable, he realized that he'd more or less been abandoned. The kids had gone to school – not their fault – and Harry had thrown himself into his work, leaving Draco mostly alone and not quite sure what to do with his time.

Perhaps he should consider having another child?

Hmm, it was a thought to think when he wasn't so tired.

 

***

 

When Harry came home from work, only an hour earlier than his 'official' end time – which he almost never made it out of the office by – Draco was just finished up bottling a fertility potion. He'd slept until close to noon, but didn't want to be wide awake that night, and so got up despite still being a bit tired.

He turned to smile at Harry only to frown instead. “You look like you shagged a troll.”

Harry snorted and shook his head. “Nope, no trolls.”

“I was thinking we should go out on a date tonight – to the Regal Dragon – and then give each other a nice bath before bed,” Draco suggested.

“That sounds wonderful!” Harry exclaimed with a grin. “Unfortunately, I can only agree to dinner. Menhari is sick and I didn't have anyone to take the second shift tonight, so I have to be back to work around eight. I could only make Parsons stay a few extra hours rather than a whole extra shift, so we split it up between us.”

Draco frowned but well knew that the Head Auror often had to put in extra hours. But that didn't meant he couldn't complain about it. “You're too soft as a boss and your employees walk all over you.”

Harry smiled at Draco. “I'll try my best to be home this weekend.”

“For what? Two hours?” Draco sneered unhappily.

“For the entire weekend,” Harry corrected.

Pursing his lips, Draco was clearly skeptical. “I'll believe it when I see it.”

They had dinner that night at the Regal Dragon, both sticking to relatively neutral topics since Draco promised to murder Harry if he talked about his work. This meant that they each gave every detail of their latest letters from their kids. For nearly two glorious hours, it felt like it used to between them. Like they were still a committed couple in love.

Then Harry checked his watch and sighed. “It's time for me to go.”

Not wanting to be seen as petulant, even though he was, Draco simply nodded as Harry stood up. “Go on, and if anyone breaks a law tonight, give them a hard kick in the bollocks for me.”

Harry snorted in amusement as he leaned over to give Draco a soft kiss. “Sadly, I can't, but the image of doing just that will keep me grinning all night. Love you.”

Draco paused for a moment, not entirely sure Harry deserved to hear it in return, and then said: “Love you too.”

After Harry Apparated away, Draco had an overwhelming urge to spy on him. So, he stood up, tossed enough Galleons on the table to more than pay for the bill, and then Apparated to the spot just down the street from the Weasley-Lovegood residence where he had a good view of the house without being seen himself.

Sure enough, Harry had just arrived outside their door – probably so that he didn't wake the kids with the loud crack had he Apparated directly inside the house. The door opened and Ginny grinned at Harry. Draco cast a spell to be able to hear them clearly.

“Harry! Good timing, the kids have all just been put to bed.”

“I can't stay long – since I have to get back to work – so this'll have to be quick,” Harry informed her.

“I don't mind,” Ginny stated with a shrug, taking him by the hand and leading him to the private gazebo in the side yard. She dropped her knickers and pulled up her skirt before leaning over and resting her arms on the railing.

As Draco watched Harry bugger her quick and hard, he was once again torn by being turned on by it, and hurt by the fact that Harry was breaking their one rule – by not telling Draco what he was doing. Slowly, a plan to get revenge filled him. Harry wasn't the only one who could keep secrets.

 

***

 

Harry had to work that weekend after all, but he vowed up and down that he would be home early on Wednesday and remain home all night. Draco merely shrugged and muttered that he'd believe it when he saw it. Even so, he made plans for Wednesday. The moment Harry sent a message confirming that he would, in fact, be home early, Draco took a fertility potion. He had decided that he was used to being a stay at home father, and since he didn't have a child to stay at home with him, he simply needed to create one.

The fact that he and Harry had agreed not to have any more – back when Albus and Scorpius were still toddlers – didn't concern him at all. If Harry could have an affair and not tell Draco, then Draco could take a fertility potion without telling Harry.

When Harry came home, Draco was waiting for him with a patient smile. Harry grinned at him.

“How much would you object if I asked to take a bit of a nap so that I'll be refreshed and ready come dinner time?” Harry asked.

Draco purred in sympathy. “I know you work so much that you don't get to sleep properly, but I have something special in mind and I'm not about to let you sleep through it.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked with interest.

With an innocent smile, Draco handed Harry a potion. “This is a mild invigorating potion. It'll wake you up and give you energy until bedtime tonight.” He didn't mention that it also had a bit of lust potion in it. Harry didn't need to know why he was suddenly overcome with the desire to have his husband as thoroughly as possible.

“Alright,” Harry accepted, downing the potion in just two gulps.

Draco took Harry by the hand and led him to their bed. By the time they got there, the potion had kicked in and Harry was practically attacking Draco. He stripped Draco off as if there was a dire emergency and getting naked was the only way to save their lives.

Purring happily, Draco kissed him, casting spells to strip Harry off too. Then Harry pushed him on the bed. Draco pulled Harry with him and they landed in a hot pile of limbs and soul stealing kisses. This part of their marriage had always been incredibly good.

They licked and kissed each other's bodies all over. Harry gave Draco a blowjob that was so vigorous Draco honestly feared his shaft might be pulled clean off! But it felt so good. Especially after not having had any sort of sex for months. He would have had a hair trigger had he not cast a denial spell on himself.

After a while, Draco realized that Harry was using his fingers to work him open. Those short but thick and strong fingers – that were much like the rest of the man – were not just stretching him open, but massaging his prostate and making him see stars. When he just couldn't take it anymore, he tugged Harry into place and gave him a demanding kiss.

Harry was more than happy to slide home, only going as slow as he had to in order to not hurt Draco. Once he bottomed out, he paused to give Draco a hot kiss before pounding into him for hours. The potion he had taken had inadvertently given him an abundance of stamina too.

At some point, Draco started to feel just a little overwhelmed, so he took off the orgasm denial spell. Almost immediately, he arched his back and squealed as he pumped out a thick mess – which was almost pudding-like in consistency. To his utter relief, this felt so good to Harry that he groaned and bit down on Draco's neck while filling him up.

They collapsed into a well sated pile, Harry holding onto to Draco as if he was so precious that he never wanted to let go. Draco enjoyed the feel of his husband's arms around him. If he were honest, it was this that he had missed the most. Sure, the sex was always fantastic, but Harry had stopped cuddling with him at some point too. He'd _said_ it was because he didn't want to wake Draco up when he came to bed late and got up early, but Draco now had his doubts.

He had no idea how much time passed. It could have been hours or it could have been minutes, but it felt like they'd just barely fallen asleep when an alert charm on Harry's wand went off.

“Boss! There's an attempted break in at Gringott's and we need all hands on deck!”

Harry growled in frustration even as he pulled free of Draco, giving him a quick kiss in an attempt to quiet the grumbles. “Shut up already, I'm on my way!” He roared at his wand.

Draco watched him get ready to go. “Will you be back in time for dinner.” This may not have sounded like a lot of time, but since it was currently coming up on Midnight, it was an entire day.

“I have no idea. I hope so,” Harry murmured as he pulled on his trousers and fastened them. “I'll send you a message when I know for sure. Love you!”

“I love you too,” Draco said, purposely speaking clearly so that Harry would be able to hear every word. Merlin and Salazar help him, but it was true. Even after everything that had happened, he loved Harry so much that it hurt.

And that was why he gave him another chance.

 

***

 

Harry managed to make it to Circe's birthday party. But he was only able to stay for about an hour before he had to go back into work. Considering that this felt like the first time that _Draco_ had seen his husband since he'd been called in Wednesday, this felt like the last straw. Harry was officially out of chances.

After staying for the entire party – and having a blast singing with Circe – Draco returned home, set Harry's slice of cake in their stasis box, and then sat to write a note.

_Dear Harry, great news! I rather suddenly found myself with an opportunity to make an extremely rare potion. All I need to do is trek to the most remote part of Africa and gather the flower that blooms once every 50 years or so. The potion takes about a month to brew. I'll send you a message when I know when I'll be home. Love, Draco_

Perhaps it'll do Harry some good to be subjected to the same thing he put Draco through on a daily basis. Gathering up his most important belongings, he Apparated to a place he could stay while he did a lot of thinking: The Shard – the Hotel where he and Harry went every year for their anniversary. Sure, it had a lot of memories, but they were all happy ones and might give Draco some balance as he thought everything through.

Nearly the entire month passed and Draco _still_ didn't know what he wanted to do. He missed Harry with a bone deep ache, but... The fact that Harry didn't pop in and out of his life for a few minutes or hours each day helped. A lot. Draco felt like he could breath for the first time in a long time.

So, he made a decision. He wasn't going to claim that it was a good decision, and honestly, it hurt quite a bit, but it felt like the best decision for him. He wrote and then sent a note to Harry.

_Dear Harry, as it turns out, I'm able to brew a lot of different rare potions here that I never thought I'd be able to brew, and so, I'm going to stay for at least another month. Possibly two. I'll let you know when I know for sure. Love, Draco_

Well... that gave him some more time to think...

 

***

 

When Draco had left, Harry had been incredibly sad and more than a little hurt, but he understood. Draco had an opportunity and it would be selfish and wrong for Harry to deny him that. He waited patiently for Draco to come home, and honestly, he was always so busy with work that the entire month passed in the blink of an eye.

So, when he received a note saying that Draco was staying longer, he accepted it. He was frustrated and angry, wishing that Draco could at least firecall him, but he knew that he didn't really have any room to get upset considering the past three or so years in which Harry had to work so often that they barely saw each other.

The brightest spot of those months was when Ginny invited him to dinner to congratulate him for finally getting her up the duff. She'd officially retired from playing Quidditch and she and Luna had decided to have another baby. Just one this time. And since Luna was not a good choice due to her previous complicated pregnancy, they'd chosen Ginny.

Of course, they'd decided this before Ginny had retired. They wanted to start trying nearly a full year before she planned to quit, simply because they knew she had trouble conceiving. They'd tried the blood to semen potion for several months, and even in conjunction with a fertility potion, it just never worked out for her. So she'd asked Harry. He'd had to think about it, but she reminded him that he and Draco both had assured her at dinner shortly after her second two children were born that if they ever changed their minds and wanted to conceive more, they'd be happy to help.

So Harry had done it. For a couple of days each month when she was ovulating, he would try his best to get her pregnant. But honestly, after the first two months, it had started to feel a bit like a chore. He'd have to find five or ten minutes in his busy schedule to stop in and shag her. Thankfully, this time, it had only taken 5 months for it to work.

This should have been a joyous occasion, but Harry felt like his life had lost all meaning. He felt empty. Not even working as much as possible (he'd taken to doing it even more), could fill the void in his life.

So, when he spotted Draco's personal house elf, Muffy, shopping in Diagon Alley, his curiosity got the better of him. He walked up to her and contemplated her for a few seconds before saying anything.

“Ah! Master Harry scared me!” She squeaked.

“I thought you were with Draco,” Harry informed her.

“Of course Muffy serves Master Draco!” She nearly growled defensively.

“Then why aren't you in Africa? Can you somehow Apparate all the way here simply to shop for supplies?” Harry wondered, not sure if it was possible.

“Africa?” Muffy asked in confusion. “Master Draco is not in Africa.”

“Then where is he?” Harry asked darkly.

Muffy tugged on her ear nervously. “Muffy has been forbidden to say, Master Harry.”

“Is that so?” Harry growled. “Fine. I'll find him myself, and you are forbidden to tell him that you saw me.”

“If Master asks...” Muffy muttered, telling him without fully saying it that she couldn't disobey a direct order from her true master.

“Naturally, if he asks specifically if you saw or talked to me, you must tell him, but if he does not ask – _specifically_ – then you are forbidden to tell him,” Harry informed her.

She nodded in understanding. “Yes, Master Harry.”

“Good, now go about your day and try to forget about this conversation.”

Muffy nodded, turning her attention back to her shopping.

Harry went home and paced his parlor as he wondered what to do. After far too long – it wasn't that hard of a problem after all – he finally decided to start by sending Draco a note.

_My beloved Draco, it's been nearly two months since you left for Africa. Surely you've finished your potions by now. When are you coming home? Love, Harry_

A few days later, he received a note that read: _Dear Harry, I'm sorry this is taking so long, but I'm afraid I won't be home any time soon. Draco – P.S. I'll try to be home in time to pick up the kids from King's Cross._

Harry fell out of his chair when he read that. It was currently February! It was four months before the kids came home!

“ _Oh hell no_!” Harry roared. There was no way in Merlin's bloody sphincter that he'd let his husband just stay away for six entire months – including the two that had already passed – without a truthful explanation as to why!

This was going to take a bit of old fashioned detective work...

 

***

 

It took Harry nearly two months, but he finally tracked Draco down. It actually wasn't all that hard once he remembered the easiest way to find someone. What had taken so long was that he had decided to overhaul his entire life first, so that when he found Draco, he'd be able to devote all the time he needed to figuring out the problem and solving it. At that point, all he needed to do was one very simple thing.

Take a look at the activity for Draco's Vault.

It was as he suspected. There was no way that someone as rich and used to living in luxury as Draco would be able to live off the grid. Thus, the activity for the vault showed that Draco had been living this entire time in the best suite at the Shard. This pissed Harry off and pleased him in equal measures because – on the one hand – Draco had very clearly lied about where he was, but on the other, he'd chosen to stay somewhere that meant so much to the both of them.

Sighing, Harry decided that it might be for the best if he stopped at the Aqua Shard – the Restaurant a few floors below the suite they always rented – to pick up something delicious before trying to see his husband. He was just perusing the menu while sitting at the bar, when he heard a laugh that sent a thrill up and down his spine. He looked over to catch his first glimpse of Draco in months.

Draco looked good. Happy even. He was wearing a bespoke suit in navy blue and... sitting at a cozy table for two with a rather gorgeous blonde woman. Clearly, the two of them were having a nice date. This infuriated Harry so much that he saw red, but he took several deep breaths and forced himself to calm down. Then he marched over to Draco with a quiet grace that always managed to surprise people – since he was sort of clumsy most of the time.

Draco looked up as he approached, his smile dying and a blank expression covering his face. The woman turned to see what had effected Draco so. She gave Harry a puzzled smile.

“Can we help you?” She asked politely.

“Belinda, this is my husband, Harry Malfoy-Potter. Harry, this is Belinda, the woman staying in the suite above mine. She's having her flat renovated and we got to chatting about it,” Draco explained, probably more than he intended to.

“Oh! So you're the husband Draco talks so much about! The man who single-handedly saves the world every day by running the police force as smoothly as possible.”

“Er...” Harry droned, thrown off by this. Apparently, things weren't as he'd assumed they were. “Hello. Nice to meet you,” he murmured awkwardly.

“Since I'm finished eating anyway, I should probably leave you two alone to talk. It sounds like you work so much that you don't have much time together. I'll stop in and chat with you tomorrow,” Belinda promised, standing up and kissing Draco on the cheek before walking away. “It was lovely to meet you as well, Harry.”

Not about to look a gift horse in the mouth, Harry sat in the vacated seat. Then everything he'd planned to say – that he'd rehearsed for days – went right out of his head, leaving him staring at Draco in confusion. Draco bristled a little, looking anywhere but at Harry for a few minutes. Finally, he snapped.

“What are you doing here?!”

Harry glared at him. “ _No_ , the real question is what are _you_ doing here?!”

“I...” Draco faltered, and then squared his shoulders, determined _not_ to feel guilty. “I decided that since I was always alone anyway, I might as well go somewhere where I could think and... _be_ without you popping in once a day to torment me!”

“Draco...” Harry whispered in anguish. “Why didn't you _tell_ me how you felt?”

Draco glared at him coldly. “Why didn't you tell _me_ that you were shagging Ginny every chance you got?”

“What?” Harry asked in confusion. “What do you mean I didn't tell you?”

“I mean exactly that. I had to spy on you to confirm what was happening because you never once said anything.”

Harry was still confused. “She asked me to help her conceive, you know that.”

“Yeah, five years ago! I'm talking about more recently,” Draco pointed out.

“No! I mean yes, it was recent, but _I told you_ that she wanted me to help her conceive again!”

“No you didn't,” Draco stated flatly.

“Yes I did!” Harry insisted.

“No. You didn't,” Draco ground out.

“But...” Harry faltered. He honestly thought he had. He scratched his head as he tried his best to remember clearly. To be honest, he'd been so tired in general – for months if not years – that he couldn't quite remember _anything_ clearly.

“And worse, after I knew it was happening, I specifically asked you where you had been one night, and while you admitted to being at Ginny's, you implied that the only thing that had happened was having dinner. Which is a lie of omission since I had literally _just_ spied on you shagging her up against the wall in her entryway.”

Harry felt both guilty and upset. “You _spied_ on me?”

Draco merely shrugged. “Well, what else was I supposed to do? You weren't talking to me!”

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought I was...” He sighed morosely. “How did we get to this point?”

Draco sighed too, taking a small sip of his excellent wine. “I don't know, but I feel that it's been happening ever since you became Deputy Head, getting so much worse when you were promoted to full Head Auror.”

“Yeah,” Harry admitted since that seemed to match up with his memories – now that he thought about it.

Draco held up his left hand in a half shrug. “I've had a lot of time to think, and I've decided that the best thing to do is just go our separate ways. I'll come home when the kids do for Holidays and each summer – they won't have to know anything is wrong. You can continue to work all the time. Once they've all graduated, we can simply continue to live separately, or we can file for a divorce.”

“No!” Harry roared angrily. “I am _not_ going to agree to that! I want you to come home!”

Draco glared at him for a moment before smoothing out his expression and shrugging. “Why? You're never there anyway.” With that, he stood up and walked past Harry on his way out of the restaurant, only Harry grabbed his arm and forced him to stop or make a scene.

“Don't walk away until I've had a chance to say what I came here to say,” he insisted.

“Will it make a difference? Harry, it's obvious that you've chosen your work over me, and I've come to accept that. Just let me go and I won't make a fuss. You can go home and go back to work.”

Harry started to protest, but was cut short by a strangled sounding gasp when he realized that he was staring right at a bulge in Draco's abdomen that had only ever been there twice before. “Draco...”

Draco pressed his lips together and didn't say anything for a moment, then he repeated himself. “Let go of me.”

“Not. A chance. In hell!” Harry vowed, standing up and tucking Draco's hand in the crook of his arm, as if nothing was wrong and he was simply escorting his husband back to their suite. “I think it's time we take this conversation somewhere private.”

Draco didn't like this idea one bit, but he was not about to start a shouting match in the middle of his favorite restaurant and risk being banned. They were silent as they walked to the lift, and then as they waited to arrive on the 39 th  floor, which was the Shangri-La Suite – the suite named after the Hotel – that they always stayed in.

Once in the suite, they both stood there awkwardly for a minute, not entirely sure what to say. Then Harry cleared his throat and peered at Draco.

“I still love you; do you still love me?”

“It's not about that, Harry,” Draco deflected. “We can have all the love in the world and still not work. Admit it, this marriage isn't working and hasn't for a long time.”

Harry sighed in frustration and ran a hand through his hair. “I'll admit that I let my work carry me away. I'll admit that I got lost in it.”

“Will you also admit that you love it and can't imagine living your life any other way?” Draco asked pointedly.

Harry exhaled in defeat. “Yes...”

“Then we've reached an agreement,” Draco stated. “You'll continue to work yourself to an early grave, and I'll find a flat and do whatever I can to find happiness. But as I said, don't worry, I'll still be home to take care of the kids. They are my entire world and I wouldn't give them up for anything.”

Harry growled. “Let me finish! Yes I love my work and can't imagine life without it, but I'm going to try! I handed in my resignation – pending training in whomever they hire to replace me.”

Draco snorted in disbelief. “I'll believe it when I see it.”

Harry grabbed him and shook him lightly. “Believe it! I took a two week vacation just so that I would have as much time as I needed to convince you that I'm not letting you go!”

Draco shook his head. “Even if I accepted the two weeks and let you talk me into believing you, you'll just go back to work when it's over and nothing will have changed.”

Harry rested his head on Draco's shoulder as he frantically tried to figure out the right thing to say. Nothing romantic or poetic came to him, so he ended up blurting out the only thing he could think of.

“Draco, you're my entire world. You're _everything_ to me. Living without you the past four months has been _agony_ and I don't want to be without you ever again. _Please_ come home and let me prove to you how much I love you and need you.”

Draco was silent for a long moment, then he sighed, sounding defeated. Running a hand through Harry's hair, he murmured: “Alright. But I'm warning you now that I'm not going to put up with this any longer. If you can't go to work and come home at a reasonable time so that we can have dinner together and talk and _connect_ like we used to, then... I'm gone...”

Harry had water welling up in the corners of his eyes when he looked up at Draco. “I promise. I was serious when I said I resigned. I would do anything for you, just...”

Draco couldn't help but be curious. “What?”

“ _Do_ you still love me?”

Draco rolled his eyes and shook his head. “You utter moron! I couldn't _stop_ loving you, no matter how hard I tried!”

Feeling like he was punched in the gut – his relief was so profound – Harry held Draco tight. Simply holding him for so long that they lost all track of time. Eventually, Draco dragged Harry over to the sofa and forced him to sit down.

“First things first, we're going to cuddle, and if we think of anything to talk about that _isn't_ your work, we'll talk. One step at a time,” Draco insisted.

Nodding, Harry accepted this. He sat on the sofa and pulled Draco into his arms, uncovering and rubbing the small but definitely there bump. “Will you tell me about this?”

Draco felt a very tiny and sad smile stretch his lips. “There's not much to tell, I was tired of always being alone and decided that since I was a stay at home father, I should have a child at home with me.”

Harry felt something in his heart twist rather painfully. He buried his face in Draco's neck and let out a small sob. “I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you!”

Pacified, Draco stroked his hair and made soothing noises. “Well... you plan to be, right?”

“I do!” Harry vowed fervently.

Smiling, Draco let himself the tiny hope that things would be different now. “Good.” Then he gave Harry a small kiss. “You'd better!”

Nodding, Harry kissed him in return. “I will.”

Feeling something inside him relax, Draco let himself believe Harry. If nothing else, it was a start. He could work with that.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> My challenge for this fic is to write Harry and Draco in an established relationship and then falling apart and having to 'fight' to stay together. I wanted to write this relationship 'my way,' meaning open. I myself am poly and wish I write *everything* poly, but that's A: not realistic, and B: not necessarily true to the characters, so, anyway, I was able to use a version of poly - open - in this fic. I sincerely hope that no one thinks that I was trying to imply that open relationships/poly (or even swinging) doesn't work because of things like this. That's not the point I was trying to make. I honestly believe they DO work *if* the couple remains honest and committed to the relationship.  
> I hope y'all liked it! :-)


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